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CRMWD officials deny giving V.V. Water Company ’cold shoulder’

The Colorado River Municipal Water District board of directors met Wednesday morning to discuss a number of issues, including potential litigation regarding tortious interference with a contract stemming from recent meetings and presentations by Beeville-based V.V. Water Company LLC.The company — represented by John Littlejohn, owner and chief scientist and Joe Carter, managing director — made a public presentation at the Hall Center for the Arts last week and a second one Tuesday night during the meeting of the Big Spring City Council.According to Littlejohn, the company is proposing a pipeline which would deliver water from the Edwards aquifer — located in South Texas — to West Texas cities served by CRMWD. The project would include the construction of pipeline to move the water into San Angelo, where it would then use CRMWD lines to move the water north to the Interstate Highway 20 corridor and neighboring cities.Both Littlejohn and Carter said they have attempted to meet with CRMWD officials to present the project, but have gotten the cold shoulder from the water district, which they say has shown no interest in their proposed project. The pair pleaded with the city council Tuesday to use its appointed directors on the board to pave the way for the project.According to CRMWD Board President Jim Purcell, the system by which the water district evaluates proposed projects is fairly strict, requiring prospective companies to submit a request for project (RFP), which the board has requested from V.V. Water Company.“We're always interested in water,” Purcell said. “It won't be a fast process because of all of the ramifications of everything in our system. So, it will take time. We have requested proposals to be sent, to be provided to the water district. We would ask that they comply with that and not try to bypass our system so we can look at all of the options and make the best decision for our entire area.”During Tuesday's council meeting, CRMWD General Manager John Grant also confirmed the water district has requested an RFP from V.V. Water company. According to Littlejohn and Carter, however, the request is cost-prohibitive.